Arc ID 161629: Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black

So after extensive tweaking based on feedback, this arc now gets its own thread.

Title: Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID: 161629
Faction: Heroic
Level Range: 41-50
Difficulty: Average. No AVs or EBs, mostly standard enemies
Enemy Groups: Knives of Artemis (on a tiny map, I promise), Freakshow, Malta Operatives, Custom Crey (I threw in some custom suit guys to break up the all-tank spawns at 45+)
Synopsis: A group of would-be heroes find themselves in way over their heads and in desperate need of help, in a tale of shadowy conspiracies, deadly politics, and total pwnage. A Malta arc from a different perspective, and without a single fed-ex.

Bumping this thread, since I've updated the arc for i15.

@GlaziusF

Running as a high 40s spine/regen scrapper, on diff 2 for actual boss fights with actual bosses.

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Huh. How you managing this? Last I checked pawn shops didn't have hostage points.

Ah. That's how. Bet they wish they were still doing Excelsior. -_-

Hmm. No notebook showin' up in my clue tab from the desk, though that was a nice combination of tightly controlled spawn points and the natural habits of the Knives.

Ah. That's why. It's a big notebook. Maybe the system text should say something like "once ninja chicks have stopped trying to kill you you can give this a proper look" or somesuch.

Notebook full of awesome, by the way. Has Indigo found herself another Melvin?

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Multiple patrols in here, saying the same thing. One of each and then a silent one, maybe? It's not like you need the names for anything.

It'd be funnier if the Freak boss was some variant on "compressor", but I won't hold that against you.

Maybe that can be the name for the other one.

Looks like I might have been wrong about my guess as to the origin of the brainwashed zombies. Only one faction is your-boss-used-to-work-for-us enough to hire the Freaks.

But didn't Project Revenant get the lid blown off it at about this point?

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Oh. It may not be Project Revenant.

Well, let's carve a swath of destruction first and read clues later.

. . .

Ooh, this is some nice conspiracy stuff.

This is actually a really well-done evolving mission. Maybe all the chips just fell the right way for me but it flows very well. No backtracking or anything.

Though why aren't these guys using the professional shapeshifter they have on staff?

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Wow, that was only mission 3? That was some great plot development. ...but now, what happens? I think I may be walking into a trap.

Huh. Nope.

Another great evolving mission.

Only complaint is that while the sec agents look the part the engine likes to pretend custom groups are Lost/Clockwork/Vahz alikes and spawn bosses for 2 heroes. And since I'm diff 2 that's a lot of elite protectors.

Also the destructo needs a bit more of a guard, right now there's just one minion talking to himself.

...wait a second, let's count here. They had one which I broke and confiscated and took delivery on another, which I also confiscated. I guess they actually had three, then, or does the one in the crate not count?

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What, no timer? C'mon man, this practically demands it.

Oh, the poor cops. The poor, doomed cops. The poor, doomed, Malta spawn gun turrets to say hi to them and then I have to deal with the gun turrets cops.

Oh, very nice use of stationary allies there.

Pity I find the guy before his holo-buddy shows up on radar, but outdoor maps aren't exactly what you'd call focused.

Speaking off, most of my allies are in the back end and Alwani's right by the entrance. Yeah. Outdoor maps are pretty terrible with this stuff.

Also his clue isn't mission-numbered.

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Storyline - ****. My only problem with all this is, where was Moment? I mean, the one guy who has actually impersonated diplomats to provoke war just doesn't show? It wouldn't take much, dude is as eccentric as a catgirl on silvervine and they probably don't enjoy working with him, but mention it?

Design - *****. Sweet Christmas this was tight. A couple speedbumps in the last mission as noted (maybe make it a "tv studio" office?) but seriously this is a freakin' 6. One other thing, a lot of times bosses called for help and nobody came, which may have been deliberate on your part.

Gameplay - ****. Last mission, mostly. It's like street-sweeping six city blocks to try and find something.

Detail - *****. The contact was pretty sweet, and the clue chain leading up to the finale was detailed and had its own little consistency rolling along.

Overall - *****. What swings the balance here are great use of chaining to evolve the missions and the contact voice. Just, uh, clear up that last mission, okay?

Thank you for the review, and the highly nitpicky input. No seriously, I love when people nitpick, they always find something I overlooked.

[ QUOTE ]
@GlaziusF
But didn't Project Revenant get the lid blown off it at about this point?

[/ QUOTE ]

It did, but Crey show up all the way to 50 villainside. They probably have a few super-top-secret evil plans still going after you throw the boss in the zig.

[ QUOTE ]

This is actually a really well-done evolving mission. Maybe all the chips just fell the right way for me but it flows very well. No backtracking or anything.


[/ QUOTE ]
Some maps are magic. By that, I mean they work right.

[ QUOTE ]

Though why aren't these guys using the professional shapeshifter they have on staff?

[/ QUOTE ]
Because you may have already beaten him up, if you're 50 and have done Crimson's arc Also, they were planning on using multiple guys, and this way they can use whatever guys are best suited for the job. Also, I forgot about him. But I think mission 3 might have a duplicate or silent patrol that will suddenly remember how much they hate that guy and are glad they don't have to work with him anymore.

[ QUOTE ]

Only complaint is that while the sec agents look the part the engine likes to pretend custom groups are Lost/Clockwork/Vahz alikes and spawn bosses for 2 heroes. And since I'm diff 2 that's a lot of elite protectors.

[/ QUOTE ]

An i15 thing? I've run this multiple times on diff 4, and the only bosses that spawned were the ones I placed. Although since i15 I have only tested with a low-40s character, so maybe your level has something to do with it?

[ QUOTE ]

Also the destructo needs a bit more of a guard, right now there's just one minion talking to himself.

...wait a second, let's count here. They had one which I broke and confiscated and took delivery on another, which I also confiscated. I guess they actually had three, then, or does the one in the crate not count?

[/ QUOTE ]

There were a few in the crate, you broke most of them when you blew it up. I'll have to look over the clue again. Boss dude's not counting them because he doesn't have them yet, "in a crate downstairs" doesn't count because he's mistrustful of his own shadow.

I will have to recheck that destructy, I was pretty sure I set the guards to medium, I may have accidentally broken it with today's patch.
[ QUOTE ]

What, no timer? C'mon man, this practically demands it.


[/ QUOTE ]

There was a one-hour timer, until that bug made the mission auto-fail when the captive reached the door. Once it's fixed the timer will be back.

Again, thank you for your input.

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

Though why aren't these guys using the professional shapeshifter they have on staff?

[/ QUOTE ]
Because you may have already beaten him up, if you're 50 and have done Crimson's arc

[/ QUOTE ]

You beat him up multiple times in that arc. Presumably when he gets into the Zig he just goes "hey guys I'm a normal prison guard and Moment impersonated a nude Sister Psyche to get me in here, help please" and is out a minute later.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Only complaint is that while the sec agents look the part the engine likes to pretend custom groups are Lost/Clockwork/Vahz alikes and spawn bosses for 2 heroes. And since I'm diff 2 that's a lot of elite protectors.

[/ QUOTE ]

An i15 thing? I've run this multiple times on diff 4, and the only bosses that spawned were the ones I placed. Although since i15 I have only tested with a low-40s character, so maybe your level has something to do with it?

[/ QUOTE ]

I can only guess it's an I15 thing because somebody else's custom group was also spawning bosses for me on diff 2 - though it was the same character.

[ QUOTE ]
There was a one-hour timer, until that bug made the mission auto-fail when the captive reached the door. Once it's fixed the timer will be back.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ghk. Is there some thread about known issues with the MA?

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

Though why aren't these guys using the professional shapeshifter they have on staff?

[/ QUOTE ]
Because you may have already beaten him up, if you're 50 and have done Crimson's arc

[/ QUOTE ]

You beat him up multiple times in that arc. Presumably when he gets into the Zig he just goes "hey guys I'm a normal prison guard and Moment impersonated a nude Sister Psyche to get me in here, help please" and is out a minute later.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ye olde cardboard prison is overdone though. Besides, according to their description at least, Malta has a tendency to not tell the left hand what the right hand is doing. But I did replace one of the duplicate patrols in Mission 3 with a patrol that talks about how much they dislike shapeshifters in general and want to not have to work with them. There's comic book precedent for shapeshifters being not all there, and working for Malta can't be good for your sanity on top of that. I couldn't think of a good (and PG-rated) nude Sister Psyche impersonation joke that would fit into the patrol dialogue space unfortunately.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
There was a one-hour timer, until that bug made the mission auto-fail when the captive reached the door. Once it's fixed the timer will be back.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ghk. Is there some thread about known issues with the MA?

[/ QUOTE ]

No. I think I'll start one.

Updates for i16:
-Allies are now "aggressive," so they'll actually fight. They also have death dialogue for their inevitable defeat if you're testing at +2/x4 Darkfire Avenger's pre-rescue emotes are back (I hope) and her ranged attack is gone.
-Mission 3 map changed, since the old one seems to have acquired some new spawn points that mess up the chained objectives.
-The sapperless custom Malta I was using for some of the ambushes and patrols has been replaced with regular Malta. A few ambushes and patrols removed as a result.

Note that the custom Crey I threw in now give somewhat reduced xp, due to being set below Hard (which would have given them Beanbag and Cobra Strike). I feel that a few lower xp minions are still better than tanks, tanks, and oh look, more tanks....but others may feel differently, and of course below 45 the customs aren't neccessary, but will spawn anyway. So: keep them, or ditch them?

Review by PoliceWoman here.
Does contain spoilers.

I give up. That stupid timed mission auto-fail bug has been around for months, and it seems like once MA bugs go live they're there to stay. Every single review of this arc since i15 has said "that last mission seems like it should have a timer." I really don't want to add an escort on that big map, especially with their behavior having issues at times, so the mission is now on a timer of "get over here and help us," and all references to the 1-hour timer have been (I hope) removed.

Also fixed the little things PoliceWoman pointed out (like the Knives' inability to count), tweaked the "liquidation squads" on the third mission a bit (one patrol got cut due to the smaller map, and some dialogue edits), added a clue to the optional Laptop objective as well. The first ambush on the boss in the Crey mission has been changed from Malta to Crey.

A review by Coulomb2 here. Spoilers and stuff.

The arc was also reviewed on AEntertainment Tonight, where MI Abrahms described it as showcasing the super-sidekick mechanic...which both mechanically and conceptually fits this arc very well, despite not existing when I published it.

A review by Sister Twelve can be found here.

Updated for I17:

-Kat no longer brings her shield generator to the club, and changes into a more "heroic" costume for when she fights as your ally.

-Keyes is now a custom Gunslinger.

-Custom Crey Security minions updated, they should give full XP now and their powers match existing Crey minions better. Most importantly, the female ones no longer throw shuriken.

The final mission still suffers horribly from the ally patch, still waiting for a fix on that.